


Midnight Dreary

by SinfulAqua



Series: Bat Cryptids and Flowers [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Batitas, Cryptids, F/M, Haunted Houses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 03:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15428178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinfulAqua/pseuds/SinfulAqua
Summary: There's a supposedly haunted house in her old neighborhood, one that Aqua's foster brothers claim to be home to some sort of monster. Not believing them and taking up their challenge, she chooses to stay the night at the old place.She probably should have believed them about the monster though.





	Midnight Dreary

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, the Vanitas server ended up creating the most beautiful thing ever: Batitas. And I got inspired/enabled by several of the members (namely kingdomsaurushearts/Candy) to create some fics for it.
> 
> Yes, fics. There will be many (and not all by me). Anyway, please enjoy!

Sometimes she wondered if her foster brothers were just messing with her and trying to get her to believe their wild stories. Before it wasn’t too difficult, seeing as how they were all young (with poor Ven being the youngest), so of course they would all be coming up with some crazy story for the others to believe. They even tried to get Eraqus to believe some of them at one point!

But as they got older, the stories began to come to a stop, and they all moved on with their lives. At least, that was the plan.

Terra and Ven had tried to shock her with one last story, and this one was far more _ridiculous_ than the last.

“There is no way this old house is haunted,” Aqua mumbled, staring up at the old place. Sure, there had been stories dating back to before she had been taken in by Eraqus that the house up on the hill was haunted. How many kids had she seen dared to go up there, only for them to come running back because they couldn’t even get past the porch?

And now her brothers expected her to believe that something was actually in there and that they had seen it? Really, weren’t they a bit too old for these games? But they had also seemed adamant, and she did promise to spend at least _one_ night in this haunted house. She was just going to be doing it to prove those two wrong.

“What even was the deal with this place? The original owners moved out, none of those rumors about murders or ghosts are real. But they’re adamant that something is in here, so. . .” She sighed, walking up the pathway so she could reach the front porch of the house. She set her duffel bag down, walking over to one of the boarded up windows. Even now, she couldn’t really see what was inside besides hints of old furniture and the like. Nothing at all that implied it was haunted, or even inhabited by anyone. She probably wasn't even going to be able to get in there!

Still, there was no real harm in trying, right? And she wasn’t going to back down from a challenge presented to her by her brothers.

Aqua walked back over to her bag, picking it up and slinging the straps over her shoulder as she stepped back up to the front door. If it was locked, she was going to turn around and leave and not even bother with attempting vandalism just for the sake of some kind of challenge she had (stupidly) agreed to.

She knocked on the door, despite the fact that she didn’t actually have to do that. She waited a moment to see if there would be any answer before moving to attempt opening it.

Imagine her shock when it actually pushed open.

Almost immediately she felt like her brothers were going to be inside, waiting to prank her and try to scare her. If this all turned out to be a ruse. . .

But with the door open, she couldn't just turn back now, not without Terra saying she really was just a girl and clearly not up to the challenge. She wasn’t sure what Ven would say, but she was certain he would be a bit disappointed that she had given up just like that.

“I swear, I’m going to come home in the morning and tell them that this prank was a stupid idea on their part,” she murmured, stepping into the house, taking care to close the door behind her.

Little did Aqua know, something had been watching her from a window on the upper level of the house. She wasn’t alone, and she was going to be learning that very, very soon.

***

It was completely run down on the inside, she noticed. Sheets covered up furniture to preserve them from collecting dust, but the same couldn’t be said for the floors. It was like the slightest shift of her feet sent up little puffs of it, trying to filter its way into her lungs. Even when she covered her mouth, she still let out a few weak coughs.

She was even more convinced now that whatever this was had to be a prank. They wouldn’t go this far for anything else, unless it was some sort of event that her brothers were super invested in.

Aqua readjusted her bag, making her way up the stairs. She winced when one of the old boards creaked, the sound echoing throughout the house. Well, the boys would probably know she was here now if they didn’t know already.

After enduring several more creaky steps, she reached the landing for the second floor. An old grandfather clock greeted her at the top of the stairs, the glass broken up with little shards scattered around the base. The walls looked like something had torn into it, but it seemed too jagged and perfectly lined up to have been a knife.

While part of her began to wonder if those stories were true, the more logical side of her squashed that down. It was just probably Terra setting the scene, which meant that some of Ven’s handiwork would be here as well. She was going to have some stern words with them later, since breaking and entering just to set up the scene for a prank is still against the law, right? They were lucky that she would just scold them and try to get it through their thick skulls to not pull this kind of stunt.

Aqua turned to begin walking down the hall, noting the spots on the walls that used to be home to framed pictures and-

Hang on, did something just move?

She turned, wondering if that thing she saw out of the corner of her eye was real or not. It seemed like something (maybe fabric?) had been dragged across the ground when someone ran by.

That. . . That just had to be one of her brothers though, right? There was no way there was _actually_ something else here.

“Haha, very funny boys. Whatever you two are planning can stop now, it won't work!” That's what she was telling herself, anyway. She could still easily count the number of pranks and scares that Terra and Ven would pull off that had successfully scared her.

She was _not_ going to let this be one of those days. So, instead of letting some random movement scare her off, Aqua went into the room nearby (that may or may not have been where whatever she saw went, of course). She expected to walk in and find some empty place, but was shocked and a tiny bit creeped out when she saw it was a bedroom.

A _child’s bedroom_ , to be exact. Of all the rooms in this house, why did it have to be a child’s bedroom?!

The bed was still made up, the sheets looking old and a bit ratty from years left alone. Old toys were still strewn about, some sticking out of a toy chest, and others set up as if the room’s former inhabitant had been told to just up and leave, unable to take anything with them.

Aqua took a step further into the room, noticing the small table in the corner with yellowed papers on top of it and crayons scattered around them. Maybe someone liked to draw then? She recalled that one of the stories about this place involved the ghost of a child who had been kidnapped and-

No, no, what was she thinking? That was just a story, there was never any evidence towards it being true!

Ven. Ven must have been the one who set the room up like this. He knew it would unnerve her, so he knew that if he got her attention, she would have come in here and found this!

Now, this would have been fine, she could handle this kind of crap. What she couldn't handle though was when she turned around, swearing that she heard something making the floorboards outside creak, only to turn back and slap her hand over her mouth to muffle a shocked gasp.

A gasp, not a scream, her brothers wouldn't get a scream out of her today.

Everything had been moved around. Toys were tossed everywhere, some on the bed (which now had messed up sheets), and absolutely none in the toy chest, which was now wide open and on its side. The little table was knocked over, and the papers and crayons were scattered as well, with some of the crayons being broken.

“V-very funny, Ventus! I don't know how you pulled all this off, but it won't work! I'm staying here until morning!” How _did_ he get it to change up so quickly though?

There couldn't. . . _Really_ be a ghost or something here. . . Right?

Regardless, Aqua was quick to turn and leave the room, her pulse racing just a bit as a number of possible explanations ran through her head. Maybe he had some kind of remote control set up to do all that, or maybe it was wires.

But not ghosts. Ghosts and monsters and everything in between and beyond just didn't exist! She didn’t care what Ven’s webshow claimed, she didn’t care what her own brother claimed to be real. This was all just a prank, just some dumb prank that her brothers must have planned for ages before springing it on her!

But they wouldn’t get her to leave. They wouldn’t win this time.

***

She ended up setting her bag in a different bedroom, one where the sheets had been stripped from the bed and only one pillow was actually left behind. The pillow itself, however, had tears in it similar to the marks she had seen on several of the walls, causing the stuffing to be falling out.

Well, it was better than nothing, that’s for sure. And there wasn’t anything in this room that could be used as part of the prank, she made sure to check. They weren't going to catch her off guard this time.

For a moment, she was about to sit down on the mattress, maybe even lay down for a moment to get this night to go faster. Unfortunately, she noticed a stain that looked like it could have been dried blood.

Hang on, one of the stories about this place involved a man murdering his wife, right? Nope, nope, not again, she wasn't going to think like this! The stories weren't real!

“This is just childish,” she grumbled, moving to actually lay down now. “I can't believe I let them rope me into this. I could be at home, relaxing on my day off but nope, I'm here instead!” She groaned, turning on her side to face the window, which. . . Probably wasn't the smartest move on her part.

There was a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning, lighting up the room she was in. Aqua sat up quickly, somehow managing to get tangled up in her own skirt as she tried to get up and off the bed.

She could hear rain, the dawning realization that she was going to actually be stuck here until morning slowly being drowned out by the fact that she could hear breathing that wasn't her own.

Someone else was in the room with her.

There was a crack of thunder again, and a shape flew past her as a gust of wind threw open the room’s window.

She would deny it for as long as she could, but she actually screamed, her hands clamping over her mouth as she tried to stay calm. What was that? What else was here with her? Oh god, she was going to die, wasn't she? This wasn't a prank, this was real, it was all real!

Her heart was hammering away against her ribcage as she made her way to the window, ignoring the rain pelting against her as she tried to close up the windows. Maybe. . . Maybe if she shut these then that. . . That _thing_ wouldn't come back.

Water dripped from her hair when she finally got the window closed, her breathing echoing in her ears. She stilled for a moment, waiting to see if she would hear a second set of breathing again. She sighed, recognizing that she was being stupid for thinking that. She had just locked whatever that was out of the house, of course there wasn’t going to be a second set of breathing again!

She should probably pick a different room though. One without windows that could burst open during the storm.

Once in the hall and in search of a new room, she could have _sworn_ she heard the fluttering of bat wings coming from the floor below.

If only she had gone to the banister and looked out into the entryway, then maybe she would have seen the front door open for a brief moment before ultimately closing once more, as well as the golden eyes glaring at her from the shadows.

***

The next room she had decided to entire was completely bare. No pictures on the walls, no furniture, nothing. She could see a few worn out spots in the carpet, indicating where things used to be, as well as what looked like cracks among floorboards not covered up by the carpet. Okay, so she was going to have to be really careful in here. Great. At least there was nothing in this room that could be connected to one of the many stories that seemed to haunt this place. Maybe when she got out of here, she could just ask Zexion what the deal with this house was.

Aqua took a few careful steps forward, avoiding any areas that she was already assuming would give out from under her. Even though there wasn’t a bed here, she could at least rest her feet for a bit, maybe eat one of the snacks in her bag, and also reevaluate her life choices that lead her to this situation.

She had gotten to what was most likely the center of the room when she heard creaking behind her. She froze, her breath catching in her throat. No. No, there was no way that thing was back in the house, right? There was no way!

Lightning flashed outside once more and she spun around, hoping to catch a glimpse of who or what was in this house with her. All she saw though was a pair of golden eyes glaring at her.

The creature lunged at her then, letting out an ear piercing _screech._ Aqua just barely managed to stumbled back and away from it, only for the floorboards beneath her to creak and groan. It was only a moment after her weight had settled that they gave out from under her, a scream caught in her throat as she went plummeting into the room below.

The fall wasn't a long one, thankfully, and she tried to twist herself midair to make her landing less impactful, but she still ended up skidding along the floor a bit, her duffel bag sliding away from her. Aqua could already feel all kinds of bruises forming on her body, certain spots stinging from where she had scraped herself with her less than graceful landing.

She hissed as she tried to push herself back up, her wrist throbbing from even the smallest amount of force put on it. While it wasn't sprained (as far as she could tell anyway) it was certainly sore. If she just let it rest for a bit, then maybe it would be okay.

Aqua turned to roll on her back, that scream from earlier catching in her throat again when the creature suddenly dropped down and landed above her. She stared up at it with wide eyes, having expected to be greeted with a monster.

Not. . . Not this.

The first thing she noticed was that, despite its human like figure, it had giant bat wings instead. It wore some kind of ribbed bodysuit, two belts strapped in opposite directions on its waist to form an X, with some sort of furred skirt or something attached to the back of it.

Her gaze steadily went higher, noticing the neck fluff that covered up some kind of emblem on its chest. The fluff itself actually gave her the image of a lion, but this was no lion, nuh uh. Fangs gleamed when the creature snarled at her, large bat ears flicking slightly atop its head.

She wasn't expecting such a human face though, caught off guard entirely.

And then that face was mere inches from her, golden eyes peering into blue, her breath catching in her throat.

“ _GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!_ ”

Everything seemed to slow down for Aqua in that moment. She could faintly hear the rain outside, hammering down on the roof and almost echoing throughout the house. On the floor above them, the grandfather clock chimed the new hour. Midnight.

The witching hour.

Of course she would be face to face with a golden eyed monster during the witching hour. Of course it would be during a storm that had her trapped in this house. She wasn’t going to get out of here, was she? She was going to die here and no one would know.

So then. . . Why wasn’t it attacking? It was just. . . Staring at her, curiously almost. Had it not seen another person before?

She flinched when it reached for her suddenly. Instead of ripping claws into her throat, however, it dragged a finger along her cheek, that curious look still in place.

“Pretty. . . Like a flower. . .”

Her face flushed when it spoke, not at all expecting it to speak, let alone say something about her. And his voice. . . No, no, hell _no_ , she was _not_ going to let her thoughts right now, not when she was at the risk of being killed!

Aqua carefully began to push herself away from it, freezing up again when it moved to pin her down, snarling at her. Yep, she was going to die. No goodbyes, no last words, nothing. Just death in an old house at the hands of some kind of bat monster!

“Here. . . Why?”

Wait. Was it. . . Trying to speak with her?

She let out a breath, wishing for her heart to calm down. He could most likely hear it hammering away in her chest, what with how large his ears were and all.

“I. . . M-my brothers told me there was. . . Was a monster here.” She noticed him bristle at that word. “I told them I would stay the night. . . Prove them wrong.”

The creature was quiet for a moment, carefully releasing its grip on her, but remaining above.

“Bro-thers.” The way it spoke sounded like it was testing that word for the first time. Could it not really speak then? But it seemed so human!

With it no longer holding her down, Aqua scrambled out from under it, ignoring the ache in her wrist and other parts of her body as she finally stood up. If she got to her duffel bag, she could get her phone, pray the signal was good enough, and call-

With speed she should have expected from something not human, the creature was in front of her again, snarling once again.

“Pretty flower leaves!”

Her face burned once again when it called her that, and she almost heeded its words before running towards her bag, dropping down to slid towards it the rest of the way. Yes, she was still going to be scraped and bruised, but she would handle that later.

“I’m not leaving! If I leave, then my brothers will call me a coward, and I'm going to show them that I'm brave enough to stay here after meeting a monster!”

Aqua had just reached into her bag when the creature rushed her again, slamming her back into the wall, its body pressed up against hers.

Instead of shrinking back in fear though, she met its gaze evenly, refusing to be scared anymore.

The creature was snarling again, but still it made no move to truly attack her. Was it. . . Was it hesitating? Why?

It was then that Aqua noticed the fear in its eyes. It wasn't angry.

It was _scared_.

“You. . . What. . . What's your name?”

Her question seemed to cause the creature some surprise, golden eyes widening. It must have never been spoken to so gently before, if anyone had spoken to it at all. Did it even have a name?

“. . . Vanitas.”

Aqua heard what sounded like disdain in its voice, as if the name came from a bad place. She ran her tongue across her lips, forcing her voice to stay steady again.

“Vanitas.”

He (yes, he, not it) stared at her, his expression unreadable for a moment. And then he was backing away from her, no longer trapping her against the wall.

“Vanitas. . . You don't like people in your house, do you?” she asked, taking a few careful steps towards him. “That’s why you tried to scare me away.”

He was looking at her like he was a lost child, his ears drooping just a bit. He was alone. He didn't have anyone else like him to be with.

Before she could think her actions through, Aqua moved forward to wrap her arms around him in a hug, her fingers lightly running through the fluff of his neck.

“How about. . . When this storm ends, we get you out of this big, empty house, hm? How does that sound? And you can come and stay with me.”

Vanitas didn't respond for a long while, and for a moment, Aqua feared that she had screwed up everything. Hadn't he been trying to hurt her just moments ago?

And then wings hesitantly wrapped around her, and she could tell that Vanitas was trying to keep little sniffles quiet. Crying. He was crying.

“Flower. . . Nice. Flower. . . Help.”

Aqua nodded, pulling back a bit to look at him. “Yeah. I’ll help.”

***

The storm ended just as the sun was beginning to rise, the only trace of it ever existing being the cloudy sky and the light drizzle that seemed to be happening on and off.

Aqua had slung her bag over her shoulder again, carefully holding Vanitas’s hand (would it be considered a hand?) as she lead him outside of the house.

They both took one last look at it before looking at each other, a smile tugging at Aqua’s lips. Vanitas did his best to replicate it, but it looked like more of a scowl than anything.

“Come on. Let’s get to my place and get you cleaned up.”

Sure, she had no idea what she was getting herself into. For all she knew, this. . . Cryptid might still try to kill her.

But Aqua was going to just see where this took her. After all, it might just turn out that this would be the best decision she ever made. She should. . . Probably decide that after getting home though and see if she survived giving a bat cryptid a bath.


End file.
